Joe Ranft
Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft was an American magician, animator, storyboard artist, and voice actor who worked for Pixar and Disney. His brother, Jerome Ranft is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar movies, and is also a voice actor. Early life Born in Pasadena, California and raised in Whittier, California, Ranft spent much of his youth practicing magic tricks and playing the accordion. At 15, he became a member of the Magic Castle Junior Group. Finishing high school in fall 1978, Joe Ranft began studying in the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. After two years, Joe Ranft's student film Good Humor caught the attention of Disney animation executives who offered him a job. Career His first five years at Disney, Joe Ranft worked on a number of television projects that never got made. Furthering into his Disney career, he was bumped up into the Feature Animation department, where he received training from Eric Larson. Joe Ranft remembers his training under the Disney Legend as, "Eric always reminds me of just the fundamental things that I tend to forget. You know it like, animation is so complex; 'how many drawings are in there?’ and stuff, but Eric always comes back to like; ‘What does the audience perceive?'" Around this time, he studied under and began performing with the improvisational group, The Groundlings. He stayed with Disney throughout the 1980s, doing story work on animated features including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Joe Ranft reunited with John Lasseter, whom he had previously met at California Institute of the Arts during the late 70's, when he joined Pixar in 1992. He worked on story development for all of Pixar's feature film releases, most recently as Head of Story on Cars. In the movie Monsters, Inc., Ranft had a monster named after him (J.J. Ranft) as most of the Scarers in the film were named for Pixar staff. In the DVD of Cars, Ranft can be seen in an interview about the movie. His favorite writers were Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. Death On August 16, 2005, Ranft and his friend Eric Frierson were passengers in Ranft's 2004 Honda Element, which was being driven by another friend, Elegba Earl. Earl suddenly lost control and crashed through the guard rail while northbound on Highway 1. The car plunged 130 feet into the mouth of the Navarro River in Mendocino County, California. Both Ranft and Earl were killed instantly. Frierson survived by escaping through the sun roof, though he received moderate injuries. Ranft was 45 years old at that time. He was survived by his wife, Sue Barry-Ranft and their two children, Jordy and Sophia, and his brother Jerome. His last two films Cars and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride were both dedicated to his memory. Filmography Roles Brave-little-toaster-disneyscreencaps.com-6975.jpg|'Elmo St. Peters' (The Brave Little Toaster) Igor (The Nightmare Before Christmas).jpg|'Igor' (The Nightmare Before Christmas) Pixar toy story lenny cap.jpg|'Lenny the Binoculars' (Toy Story) Heimlich.png|'Heimlich' (A Bug's Life) Wheezy render.png|'Wheezy' (Toy Story 2) Man-on-submarine-atlantis.jpeg|'Man on submarine' (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) Treasure Planet Pirates is Galaxy.jpeg|'Pirates' (Treasure Planet) Pete Claws Ward.png|'Pete "Claws" Ward' (Monsters, Inc.) 1000px-Jacques-FindingNemo3D.jpg|'Jacques' (Finding Nemo) Red3.jpg|'Red' (Cars) Peterbilt.png|'Peterbilt' (Cars) Gallery Joe Ranft RDU storyboards.jpg|Joe Ranft posting storyboards for The Rescuers Down Under. Joe Ranft Nmb4Xmas storyboards.jpg|Joe Ranft in front of his storyboards for The Nightmare Before Christmas. Joe Ranft TS storyboard pitch.jpg|Joe Ranft doing a storyboard pitch for Toy Story. Joe Ranft behind the scenes abl.jpg|Joe Ranft behind the scenes of A Bug's Life. Joe Ranft behind the scenes FN.jpg|Joe Ranft behind the scenes of Finding Nemo. Joe with Jordy & Sophia.jpg|Ranft with his kids, Jordy and Sophia, at A Bug's Land at Disney California Adventures in March 2003. Joe Ranft in front of Heimlich Chew Chew Train.jpg|Joe Ranft poses in front of the Heimlich's Chew Chew Train ride at Disney's California Adventure. Joe Ranft at the event of Incredibles.jpg|Ranft and his wife Sue at premiere of The Incredibles in October 2004. 2Joes.jpg|Ranft with late legendary Disney storyman Joe Grant. Joe and Pixar crew.jpg|Ranft talks to John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter about the legacy of Toy Story at Pixar in February 2005, just a few months before Joe's fatal car accident. Trivia *Joe Ranft's role as Elmo St. Peters is his only role in a traditionally-animated work. *Joe's son, Jordan voices one of the ant boys in A Bug's Life and Tad the butterfly fish in Finding Nemo. *Joe's daughter, Sophia voices the character of Baby Smitty in Monsters, Inc. References External links * *Pixar Artist's Corner with Joe *Michael Sragow (Nov. 23, 1999) "Toy" Story Man. Salon. *Peter Hartlaub (Sep. 17, 2003) The secret of Pixar's magic can be found at CalArts.... San Francisco Chronicle. *Hollywood Reporter Obituary *Remembrance by Ronnie del Carmen *Obituary by the former President of the Northern California Disneyana Enthusiasts club, citing comments made at Joe Ranft's memorial *Disney Legends profile *Remembrance by James S. Baker *VIdeo of Joe doing magic nl:Joe Ranft Category:1960s births Category:Animators Category:Storyboard artists Category:Voice actors Category:Disney Legends Category:Deceased Category:Males Category:People Category:The Nightmare Before Christmas Category:Pixar Category:2000s deaths Category:People from California Category:Annie Award Winner Category:Annie Award Nominated Category:Siblings Category:Toy Story Category:A Bug's Life Category:Monsters, Inc. Category:Finding Nemo Category:The Incredibles Category:Cars Category:The Brave Little Toaster Category:Oliver & Company Category:The Rescuers Down Under Category:Beauty and the Beast Category:Aladdin Category:The Lion King Category:Pixar actors and actresses Category:Disney Dark Age Category:Disney Renaissance Category:Fantasia Category:Who Framed Roger Rabbit Category:James and the Giant Peach Category:Buzz Lightyear of Star Command Category:Screenwriters Category:Disney Post-Renaissance Category:Actors Category:American actors Category:American animators Category:American voice actors